Church Bells Ring Nationwide for Newtown Shooting Victims

People at the Blue Colony diner observe a moment of silence for victims of the December 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, December 21, 2012.

(Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Joe Saleem of Mooresville, North Carolina prays as he stands with others outside the Edmond Town Hall during a moment of silence and ringing of church bells at 9:30am EDT for the victims of the December 14 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, December 21, 2012.

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Church bells are tolling across the U.S. this morning in remembrance of the victims of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting last Friday, with religious leaders calling on people to pause and reflect on the tragedy.

"Bells in churches historically have a variety of functions. They are announcements, they are a call to prayer, they are a memorial and they are a call to action," the Rev. Richard Burnett, rector at Trinity Episcopal Church Downtown in Columbus, Ohio, told The Columbus Dispatch. "I think all of those things at one level or another can speak to people in our community a week after the tragedy of the massacre."

When 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown last Friday morning, he had already killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their nearby home. He then proceeded to shoot down 20 children, the school's principal an five other employees before turning the gun on himself, in the deadliest school shooting America has experienced since the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.

"We are standing in solidarity with those who weep and grieve," the Rev. Virginia Lohmann Bauman of St. John's Evangelical Protestant Church added. "Our bells also ring because the resurrection is real for us and death is not the end. We do believe in eternal life, and these children are in heaven with God and with Jesus."

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has called for a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims, which other governors across the country have been quick to agree to. Some churches, like the ones in Ohio, are ringing the bell 26 times in observance of the victims shot dead at the school, while others, like some in Dallas, Texas, are ringing 28 times and include the gunman and his mother in the count, Fox News noted.

"These kinds of shootings do seem to suggest there is something amiss and I think this Christmas season, God is working to address that," said the Rev. John White of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in West Virginia, whose church is also ringing the bells, The Register-Herald reported. "Through Christ, we can find a way forward. We have to commit to that."

"We'll include them (the victims) in our prayers, remembering the people who have died," Rabbi Jim Cohn of Temple B'nai Israel added.

The rabbi said that the tragic incident was not something new to the human race, and murders have been happening ever since Cain slew his brother Abel in the Bible.

"I think this kind of thing has been around for as long as we've been a species. It's a constant effort to overcome it," said Cohn.

Various websites also joined in a nationwide moment of silence earlier this morning, with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, television host Ryan Seacrest and singer Britney Spears leading the call for people to pause for a moment of reflection, according to AFP.

"Please join in a national moment of silence in honor of the Sandy Hook victims called for by Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy," Twitter said. "In the coming weeks and months, we must come together around common-sense solutions that will prevent the gun violence that has become all too frequent in communities across the country."

Photo Gallery: Victims of the Newtown, Conn., School Shootings

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(Photo: Reuters/Handout)

A combination of 12 handout pictures shows 12 of 20 young schoolchildren killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Jack Pinto. Pinto was one of the victims killed at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Avielle Richman, one of the 20 children killed in a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Catherine Hubbard, one of the 20 schoolchildren killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Benjamin Wheeler, one of 20 children killed at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, in a shooting rampage.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Dylan Hockley, one of the 26 victims killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Daniel Barden, one of 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Ana Marquez-Greene, one of 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Emilie Alice Parker, one of 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Rachel Davino, one of 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Facebook/Handout)

An undated handout photo featured on a Facebook memorial site shows Lauren Rousseau, one of 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

(Photo: Reuters/Tumblr/Handout)

Victoria Soto, 27, is shown in this undated handout photo posted on Tumblr in her honor. Soto was one of six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

(Photo: Reuters/Courtesy Family of Nancy Lanza/ABC News/Handout)

This undated photo provided by a family member to ABC News reportedly shows Nancy Lanza. Lanza was the mother of suspected gunman Adam Lanza involved in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.